Houston's 'H-Town Frankie' goes viral, millions of views on rap-themed Christmas light display video
HOUSTON - A Houston man is gaining international attention for a synchronized Christmas light display outside his home.
In less than a week since posting his light display to Instagram, Frankie To-Ong’s latest video (better known as H-Town Frankie), has received about 40 million views.
"I don’t know how to explain it, it’s so cool," said Frankie. "I really have a passion for making people smile with music. Some of my motivation was, can I do something that is good enough, that a superstar will see it and like it."
The Houston native’s most recent viral video shows his Christmas light display synchronized with rap music. According to Frankie, several musical artists have liked his posts.
"Drake, Travis Scott, Paul Wall, Bun B, Slim Thug," said Frankie. "It’s the coolest thing. How else in the world would I be able to get in the room with them, or in a conversation with them, just to let them know I’m a fan."
The full-time IT worker begins setting up his display in October. He calls if a "fun hobby" that takes him a few days to finish. This year’s display is about 16,000 pixels. A 3-minute song he says takes about eight to 10 hours to program and synchronize.
In recent years, Frankie started posting his displays to TikTok and Instagram on his @htown_frankie page. Millions of views later, he has decided to keep his home’s location private and only turns the display on occasionally.
"The first time it went viral, and I played it, it was like a parking lot [outside our home]," said Frankie. "It was very stressful. At that point, I was like, I don’t know if that’s really what I want to do."
Neighbors that pull up to his home in North Houston can listen to the display that he broadcasts over a radio frequency. Within minutes of turning the display on for FOX 26 on Wednesday night, several cars stopped to watch.
"We come by here and the kids get excited when it’s on," said Brittany Schultz, a neighbor. "Like, if we’re on the way home, we’re going to check and see if Frankie has his lights on."
Frankie is known to post on Instagram (@htown_frankie) and ask for song requests for future displays. He says he plans to release a new video display to his page soon.